Wojtek Naczas
Shapiro’s bronze work has not had a full-size gallery show in nearly 20 years. Above: “Untitled, 1991.”
Joel Shapiro is a titan in the art world. Throughout his nearly 50-year career, he has exhibited at the world’s most prestigious museums and received numerous accolades, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center in 2015, and the Outstanding Contribution to the Arts Award in 2013.
After years of careful planning, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) has landed Joel Shapiro: The Bronzes. It’s a score for MMoCA and, for Shapiro, a chance to show off some of his larger and lesser-known works in a new setting.
The New York City-based artist has been exhibiting his sparse, geometric sculptures since the early 1970s. The Bronzes, which runs Sept. 23-Jan.13, includes 15 of the artist’s bronze works made between 1983 and 2015.
The show’s curator, MMoCA director Stephen Fleischman, says he began discussing an exhibit for MMoCA in 2014 when he first visited Shapiro’s studio in Long Island, New York.
After additional back-and-forth between Shapiro and Fleischman, the two agreed that the exhibit would focus on a cross-section of the pieces Shapiro has done in bronze over the years.
“[Joel Shapiro] told me through an email that a show of the bronzes would be exciting and unanticipated and timely,” says Fleischman, adding that he was particularly struck by the bronzes when he visited Shapiro’s studio. The artist’s bronze work hasn’t had a full-size gallery show in nearly 20 years. “So it’s about time,” says Shapiro.
Located in the museum’s massive 8,200 square foot second-floor gallery, the show promises to be nothing short of engrossing. The exhibit includes smaller sculptures along with those that tip the scales at 8,000 pounds. To accommodate the massive pieces, MMoCA had to remove some walls.
According to Fleischman, the show represents one of MMoCA’s largest logistical challenges in recent years. “You don’t just put work that size in a truck,” he says, noting that special shipping containers have to be created. Several sculptures required the use of a forklift and additional support systems such as slip-fits and bolting systems that attach to connection points in the concrete underneath the gallery floor.
Many of the pieces (which are all untitled) have only been displayed outdoors, but Shapiro believes MMoCA’s presentation will allow audiences to experience them in a fresh light. “In many ways, there should be less distraction when [the sculptures] are presented inside. You often can’t compete with the natural world when something is shown outside,” says Shapiro.
One sculpture, made up of a solid bronze square attached to multiple twisting, leg-like projections, resembles a strange arachnid. Like several other pieces in The Bronzes, it appears to be suspended, defying gravity and creating a sense of wonder.
Several larger pieces appear at first to be a series of unadorned bronze rectangles stacked on top of and branching away from one another. Upon closer inspection, they begin to appear as human forms: a body praying, a body falling to its knees, a body rising up from a crumpled heap.
One of the appeals of Shapiro’s work, says Fleischman, is how it manages to capture simplicity and complexity.
“What I like is the duality,” says Fleischman. “The idea that we as humans move through life sometimes in complete equilibrium and balance, and sometimes in awkward and sort of challenging ways. I think his work reflects that question of ‘how does one keep their poise and dignity in life when challenged with things that we stumble into?’”
An opening reception is scheduled for Sept. 22 at MMoCA, from 6-9 p.m., with a talk by Joel Shapiro at 7 p.m.
